Chapter Text
My Jealous E-X
Chapter 1: You... who?!
The crinkle of a little slip of paper was all it took to cause his heart to skip a beat.
Firmly clutched in his paws, Nick was taken aback at what he had just read. This can't be right.
With his brows narrowing, he set the only shred of evidence of the new case carefully down on his desk.
Vulpine eyes examined and reexamined the details of the note until he found that his first assumption was right: someone hadn't paid attention to the fine-print.
That was it, they had a bag full of evidence. Enough to incite the perp that did this most vile of crimes and ensure that justice would be served.
Not hesitating, he called it in. This was too important for any delays. Reaching over to his most trusted communication device, he brought it to his muzzle and spoke with urgency.
"Breaker, breaker, this is unit 238. We've received info about a robbery in progress. Suspect last seen on Souston and Walnut. Requesting backup, over."
Finished, he waited for the response on the line. It was only a second before he got just that.
He felt the device being roughly yanked from his paw followed by a low, frustrated sigh. A smirk crawled its way across his muzzle as he swished his tail triumphantly.
His ears swiveled to hear his partner about to berate him for his antics.
"I can hear you just fine, Nick," Judy said as she smoothed over the fur of her ear that Nick had just used as a radio.
It wasn't the first time he did that, and wouldn't be the last. As a consolation, she used his tail as a scarf at times.
Satisfied with her ear not flopping over, the bunny spun around in her chair. She was met with his side of their shared office cubicle.
While his was relatively neat with a few ' Nick ' nacks – blueberry paraphernalia, a photo of him and his mother, no less than three lamps, and a medal that read "best hat" – Judy's was a bit more cluttered with family photos and case files.
It may have not been much, but for the two smallest mammals on the ZPD, it was home.
Huffing at him, but also enticed by the wafting aroma of food, Judy changed her mind about a quick payback.
"And is that what you call our lunch delivery?" she inquired, already sensing that Nick was going to make a scene of it.
But despite his usual 'suave Nick' demeanor, she could tell something was amiss. He held up the takeout bag in disgust, despite it being from one of the better fast food places.
"At these prices, Fluff?" the fox reiterated, peering into the bag and re-reading the receipt. "Rabbit, we've just been robbed. I think we should get our money back for this."
Huffing and holding a paw out for him to give her the bag, Judy knew better than to entertain Nick's antics at times. With the way things were going with this one, he'd be on it for weeks.
He obliged, faux swooning with one paw shielding his eyes as he handed it over.
Rolling her eyes, she grabbed it without too much fuss.
"Nick, you're being ridiculous," she chided, opening the bag and sifting through the food.
"Your ridiculous?" he jested, kicking back and admiring the "best hat" medal.
Ignoring Nick and checking that everything was there, she read the receipt.
"See! There's-" she began confidently… until she read the numbers… and re -read them.
Her jaw dropped when she tallied everything up.
Being brought up with a family of hundreds and being about as frugal as Nick, Judy couldn't disagree: the receipt was too overpriced.
With everything being à la carte, her salad and drink alone were nearly twenty dollars. It was no wonder her partner chose to go with just curly fries, which were...
She read the receipt again, mouth agape, eyes twitching, and ears drooping the second she saw the price.
Judy looked up from the ticket at her partner. While she could hear the smug on his muzzle, she couldn't disagree with him
"Alright…" she sighed, relenting and rolling up the bag, "we're going back."
Taking in a deep breath before stretching all his floof out, Nick singsonged a little tune.
"~I told yooouuuuu," he began, backpedaling out of the office with the bunny in tow, "Never send the howler if you want it done riiiiggghhht."
Evidence with her, and catching up to her partner, Judy couldn't help but chuckle. "Nick, this has nothing to do with Wolfavitz being a wolf."
Be that as he was, Nick prattled on. He slowed his pace when he got just to the other side of the wolf's office cubicle.
Dramatically half bowing with his paws welcoming Judy to see the site, Nick showed his partner the fate of the crazed canid.
Shifting her glance as she walked by, Judy caught the wolf face deep in a fast-food bag. His tail swished as he rummaged through his lunch nose-first.
She shook her head. As good of an officer as he was, he was still practically the ZPD's darling wonder pup.
And that's why Nick was having so much fun. Having him sent off with Wolfard and Fengmeyer for a lunch run, the fox already knew that it was a recipe for disaster.
"Fuff, he may have a good sense of smell, but he couldn't smell a ripoff," Nick stated proudly, now crossing his arms as the wolf pulled his head out of the bag; his off-white fur glistened with fry grease. "I can feel one a mile away."
Judy could only stare at the jubilant canid with his head immersed in the bag of sustenance. It was no wonder he wasn't allowed on vice assignments.
Before taking the time to devour a quick, savory lunch, Vitz noticed his fellow officers. He greeted them with a cheerful wave.
They smiled and waved back. Though Judy was more intent on getting their lunch settled, and she had ways of doing that.
"Is that why your fur's so frizzled?" She gibed, getting Nick's attention.
Taken aback, the fox raised a brow.
He was proud of how he kept his fur: pristine, fluffy, blueberry scented, and bunny-hug ready.
It took about a month's worth of brushing every day to get it just right.
Troubled at the thought, Nick patted the fur on his neck, guided by where Judy pointed.
She inched closer with every bit of instruction.
"Right there-" Bag ready, she stepped forward, she couldn't give Nick time to make more of a fuss. "No just a little-" He was right where she wanted, "right… riii-"
His paw on his head-fluff in an awkward salute-like pose, she reached up for his tie and dragged him with her.
She paid no heed to the various fox sounds he made.
Requisitioning their vehicle to drive was an easy task. Fill out paperwork, get the keys, try to get Nick to stop playing with Judy's ears while the Requisitions Officer laughs.
Just a few easy steps was all it took. So now thankfully-
Nick continued to dance Judy's ears to a tune only he could hear until she swatted his paws away.
- THANKFULLY, they could get going.
Keys obtained, Judy took to unlocking their oversized patrol car. The second it clicked, however, she felt a swift, foxy breeze leave her paw empty.
The triumphant tod smiled as he approached the vehicle and spun the keys with his claw.
He thought to give the bunny a wink, but the look she gave her sent a chill down his spine.
Her scowl being somewhere between "had to relocate for witness protection" to "evidence shows that the weapon was a grilled cheese", Nick hastily gave his reason.
"Bunny, I was driving before you went to school."
Not a good reason, but a Nick one, Judy crossed her arms. "Driving mammals insane from your insanity doesn't count."
Despite that being true, especially from one of his office pranks including Fangmeyer, a few laser pointers, and a modified disco ball, the fox feigned his innocence.
"And this after we spent time in a room in an asylum, fluff?"
Judy couldn't refute that. It was a close call and one that they almost regretted.
"Well someone went along with my crazy stunts." Giving him a chance and walking to the passenger side, she went along with his banter. "Oh! And that someone also belly-flopped into the nice raging rapids below."
By the time she had settled into her seat and buckled herself in, Nick had just shut the door.
He sighed as he turned on the ignition. "Oh a day with you could get anyone to confess their crimes."
Smiling that he was right, Judy crossed her arms and readied herself. "Alright, Slick. Let's see what you got."
As the engine roared and the car began to settle and hum, Nick couldn't help but berate the bunny for her driving skills. "Carrot's, you're about to be 'oohed' and 'awed' into a fit of bitty brevicaudate bunny jealousy."
Taking his foot off the break, he shifted gears.
"I don't know how you bunny folk drive so recklessly. It's like you were born with all your paws on the gas pedal."
Gripping the wheel with one paw, he casually donned his sunglasses with the other.
She shrugged. "We had amazing derbies in Bunnyburrow. You should try them sometime."
He raised a brow at those words. The thought of thousands of rabbits in race cars on the autobuhn made him cringe. Though it did give him an idea.
"Say, why don't we-"
Before he could attempt to silver tongue his way into more antics, he felt her paws – those soft, adorable, crime-fighting bunny paws – clamp down on his muzzle.
She gave him a half-serious look. "Less talky, more getting us there to get our money back."
Preparing himself for the insurmountable task ahead, he took a deep breath, adjusted the seatbelt, and, most importantly, his sunglasses.
With a practiced, plastered smile in place, he shifted gears, fully intending to ease his way out of the garage. He could feel the massive vehicle move at his command. It was going smoothly.
It was then that the cruiser jerked backward, throwing him forward a little as he heard a pocket hurting crunch from the wall he impacted.
Immediately snapping his head back to see the wall of grey, Nick's lips pursed in shock. Out of the corner of his eye, despite his blunder, Judy merely smiled.
"I'm waiting." she said, voice seething with all of the ' told you so's that any best friend could ever have.
And, Nick, not wanting to be on the receiving end of those words, merely cleared his throat and tried again.
But not before passing the blame off.
"Well, fluff, if someone didn't drive inverted like a country bunny, then all would be well."
Before he heard her begin to protest, he shifted gears, lightly tapping the pedal. And when that didn't work, he tried a few more times.
At about the fifth, Judy sighed. "Nick, that's the brake."
If she noticed the little twitch he just made, she didn't say anything. "Just messin' with you flu-"
With the momentum he used to press the brake now transferring to the gas, the fox accelerated the vehicle into the rear of another… and several others to boot.
By the time the car came to rest, the front tire had made its way onto the hood of another car; the two of them practically staring at the ceiling.
With alarms blaring, Nick could only huff at his mishap. He felt his heart racing at what just happened. Though, with all of this, there was that little voice that helped him collect his thoughts.
"You were saying?" Strangely, it sounded like the bunny next to him.
His lips pinched into a frown as he shot her a glare. "Not a word."
The sheer paperwork from this was going to be the end of his wrists. So, with an exasperated sigh, he sought to fix this.
Twisting his head to and fro while Judy said something he didn't want to really hear – his berating for bad driving – he thought of where to start.
Gotta back the car off, right?
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he heard screaming. That was soon followed by the bunny shouting at him.
"No, Nick WAI-"
Yet, it was too late from the second he put the shift in reverse.
For the third time in under a minute, the cruiser was recklessly driven in the parking lot. This time, the rear tires screeched as the vehicle came crashing down from its makeshift ramp.
Freed for mere microseconds before accelerating backward even faster, the duo could only yelp as they felt their world being turned upside-down.
With a resounding crunch and crack of glass, the battered vehicle finally came to a rest as it had flipped over.
By the time either of them were able to register what had taken place, they found themselves in a precarious position. Nick looked up – now down – only to see the ground outside the window far closer than it had been a minute ago.
Both fox and bunny arms dangled and, though neither said it, they were thankful for the invention of seatbelts.
Knowing he was going to be torn into by his boss, Nick cringed from all the damage that was just done. He didn't know what went wrong.
But, even more worrying than that, was the state of his partner.
He turned to look over at the bunny just swaying next to him.
"You okay there, Carrots?" he asked, a nervous hitch in his tone.
When the bunny didn't respond for a second, his heart began to race.
"Carrots?!" he asked again, now trying to orient himself to no avail. "Judy are you alri-"
He felt a paw suddenly place itself on his lips.
"Sweet CHEESE, Slick!" she shouted, slowly turning to him with a mix of fury and mockery.
He was relieved that she was okay, though he didn't know if his shoulders raised or lowered as he was still technically on the ceiling now.
The bunny, now assessing the damage, could only sigh. "And you say bunnies are bad drivers."
Noticing his plastered – I Nicked it up like that time I put a can of tuna in the vent Bogo's office and he had that investigation going on for a week, so Carrots please help, and don't let the Chief know it was me and we'll go to that place you like for lunch – smile, Judy took a deep breath.
She opened her little bunny mouth to berate him for this. "I told you let me-"
It was then that Judy's life-saving airbag deployed, effectively temporarily silencing the much-deserved chastisement.
Immediately upon seeing the bunny squished between the airbag and the chair, Nick shrieked!
"Carrots!"
As much as he loved the fact that safety worked, he didn't know how bad that kind of whiplash would be on a bunny.
They could do a lot of damage to a mammal her size.
Reaching over to her and trying to free her from the hazard he caused, he gave a pained whine.
This was Judy Hopps, that he had done this too. His friend, partner, and – he wished – even more.
Desperately pushing the offending cushion, he kept calling her. 'Carrots! You okay?! Can you hear me?!"
At about the third attempt, he felt her paw roughly grab his, nearly yanking him out of the seat. It didn't take long for a muffled noise to fill the car.
The airbag, slowly deflating, revealed a rather angry rabbit. She had her teeth sunk into the thing in a fit of rage, all while nearly crushing the poor fox's paw.
"Judy?!" he said in both disbelief and pain. That bunny had a vice grip.
She was alright. Judy was okay.
Tension leaving him in waves, even under the death glare and increasing pain that she gave him, he only smiled.
A smile that soon turned into a joyous, tear-filled laugh.
"Hahaha-"
It was then that Nick's life-saving airbag deployed, effectively temporarily silencing his laughter in much-deserved hubris.
The next half-hour was a blur of yelling, scrambling to get the ZPD's "First Bunny and First Fox" out of the overturned car, more yelling, scolding, Bogo being informed, shouting, BOGO shouting, a quick visit to the in-house medic, Wolfard laughing, Bogo's reprimand, a hyena laughing, and a mountain of paperwork.
When they finally got to sit back at their shared cubicle – Nick having been sent back first due to some unknown grudge Bogo had – the air around them was tense.
Judy had practically skittered back when the frosted door to the Chief's office shut. And from how Nick was seated, he looked as if he was either constipated or-
"Agh!" the tod yelped, seeing Judy out of the corner of his eye. When he saw who it was, he started to calmly, carefully sip on his shaky cup of coffee. "H-heeyyy… Carrots."
- nope, that was genuine fear.
Taking her seat and leaning back for all the comfort that it was worth, Judy shut her eyes and drew in a few deep breaths.
She had to say something.
A bunny of action, she didn't want to delay. She huffed. "Well, there's good news and bad news."
The age-old paradigm only served to make both parties suffer.
Though, of the two, Nick knew that this was on him.
Trying to find the strings that held his mask in place, but opting to use glue when he couldn't keep it on, the fox let words just run out of his mouth like a faucet.
"Let me guess. Chief wants my pelt on his desk by this afternoon?"
Despite him only joking about it, Nick could actually surmise that the chief wanted to make a scarf out of him at least. There was a sneaking suspicion around the office that he had a special someone that he wanted to gift something to.
Judy sighed, shaking her head and forcing a slight smile. "That's the good news."
The fox cringed. If that was 'good' news, then...
"Bad news," the bunny began, a deep, anxious breath drawn between both of them. "Is that... the damage is coming out of our paychecks."
Eyes wide and mouth slack, Nick couldn't believe what he just heard.
All the prior tax evasion, the hustles, the former life now gone with him becoming a (mostly) straightlaced fox? All that now to pay for the damages he caused accidentally? All because of a lunch receipt?
He had to suppress a growl.
Stupid curly fries.
Leaning back in his chair, Nick deflated. He had to figure something out.
But first, he had to ask, "You think he'll notice if I get him a red-orange rug instead?"
Only getting a weak chuckle from her, Nick knew this was bad. It wasn't her fault, this was something he had to do alone.
Sitting up, he rubbed his temples in frustration.
"Carrots, I ran into the other cars," he admitted, looking over his shoulder towards the garage.
" Repeatedly," he followed, bitterly. Taking a deep, exasperated sigh and leaning his head against the 'best hat' medal, Nick resigned himself to a dreary fate. "This one's on me, fluff."
"No, Nick," Judy retorted, quickly waving her paws at the idea. "It's on me as well. You're not the only one that needs a modified car."
That was something he loved about her: she always thought of others first.
He sighed. "I just wish it wasn't so expensive."
With numbers like what the initial estimate showed, Wallabymart instant ramen was a luxury they wouldn't be able to afford for a year.
Hating it just as much as he did, Judy resigned herself to how difficult this was going to be. "Well, unless you know someone that would be cheaper, that's what we've got."
Nick thought for a moment. He did have an entire list of mammals that probably could fix it within their budgets, but less that would since his induction as a cop. If he set them to the task, then even Big would be impressed at the mafioso style that Nick would go out.
And, whosoever that would be, would eventually be another frostbitten corpse found by Precinct 5 (Tundra Town). Open and shut case, completely unrelated.
Fru would miss them, though.
Going over everybody he knew – as he once told Judy – a thought clicked in his head. He sat straight up and waved his paws around as if he were measuring the idea.
Garnering a quizzical look from the bunny, he clicked his tongue. "Well, I do know of one mammal that can fix the whole thing or even make it better at a far more... economically friendly price."
Judy hopped out of her chair at the mention. "Alright, who's this mystery mechanic?"
She was beaming at the proposition. However, from the slightly nervous look in Nick's eyes, Judy immediately knew that this wouldn't end well.
Not because of his antics. Not usually.
It was for the fact that Nick had certain tells on what was going on with his life. Smiling a bit wider than usual? He's hiding something. Tail twitching to the left? He's using semantics to cover his half-lie. Tapping his foot? Deep thought about something he's covering up.
This was no different.
So now, with trepidation, Judy dreaded what backward mammal – who hopefully didn't own an illegal chop shop or something – he'd get to do their repairs.
She took a deep breath, "Nick?!"
At least we're off shift for this… Judy thought, shuffling behind her partner the moment he pushed open the sturdy, glass door to the auto shop.
With the mellow pitch of the tone that rang out, as well as the heavy odour of gasoline and oil, Judy had no doubt that this must've been the shop that Nick had convinced her was the 'economic' choice of repair.
Having resorted to walking there – vehicular suspension and all – Judy didn't know what to expect.
But whatever crossed her mind, it wasn't this. Oil cans stacked in a teetering display, tires loosely nailed to a wall as a decoration, hanging fluorescent lighting, grease stains littering the floor.
The bunny grimaced.
Admittedly, Judy wasn't thrilled about being here. Not from the fact that they had to be here, but the place was about as... well it looked like the kind of place to have your last stand in the apocalypse.
If all the decorum was any indication of the mammal that worked here, they must be some sort of engineering savant as well as a danger to society.
It finally clicked with Judy. No wonder Nick picked them.
Everything clashed with everything else in some haphazard sense of organization.
Fancy wasn't the word for it.
Dangerous, maybe. And from the way that that engine was suspended with just a few bolts and wires, Judy couldn't help but wonder what sort of crazed mammal would want to be around something so precariously positioned. If you so much as breathed on it, it looked like it'd fall.
She eyed it in horror. Oh, it's swaying…
Instincts kicking in, the bunny quickly took a few steps away and out of the possible dropzone. She had to sidestep the oil cans and nearly ran into what looked like two halves of a table supporting a bronze-plated, hat-shaped trophy that read "Best hat".
Curious, she gawked at the strange furniture. "A floating table…"
Closer inspecting it, there were a few wires that let it float in some weird manner that shouted "take that, physics."
Before she was able to inquire about the whole thing, a little chime rang out. Judy focused her gaze on her partner standing at the front counter.
Tail idling with a plastered, half-smirk, Nick patiently waited for his call to be answered.
Fearing what she'd see, Judy prepared herself and bounded towards her fox. She wasn't told anything prior to the excursion except that the mechanic was a lot like her.
She had to ask. "And you're sure that they're gonna be able to fix it, right?" the bunny asked nervously.
He looked down at her with a bemused smile.
"Carrots, she can fix anything ." He demurred, stopping only when he heard a gasp of glee.
The two cops turned from the counter to the garage door to see an almost pure white fox staring them back. Clad in overalls with splotches of grease and oil staining them, the vixen's deep blue eyes shimmered.
Tail racing, she ran towards them full speed, arms spread wide. "NICKY!!!"
Her squeal of joy resounded through the little shop, reaching the tod just before she wrapped her arms around him, squeezing the life out of him.
When Judy managed to recover from the deafening sound, she saw the two foxes standing there, one overjoyed while the other was a large stress ball.
Finally feeling as though he had enough, Nick wiggled out of the vixen's grasp, taking large gulps of air as his lungs felt like they were on fire.
With her now idly smiling and watching his partner, Nick composed himself.
"Judy, this is my good friend, Skye," he introduced, wiping some of the grease off of his dress blues. "Master mechanic, expert engineer, she can fix it all."
To that, the vixen nodded vigorously.
Arms akimbo and brow raised, Judy could only hope that Nick's confidence in this strange fox was worth it. It only took her a moment to shake her head, though.
Rummaging through her belt to get her phone, Judy opened it and shuffled through pictures. Landing on one, she held her phone aloft.
"Do you think you can fix this?"
Offering the vixen a chance to take a look at the damages, Judy felt nervous. This could make or break them. Their pockets especially.
Phone in paw, Skye mused over it. Humming and tilting her head the whole time. After a solid minute, she sighed.
Though it was a general question, her eyes shifted to the red tod beside her. "What'd you do to it?!"
Before Nick could come up with some fanciful excuse, Judy answered sharply. "He drove."
She gave the phone back, scolding her friend. "That's why I never let you touch my car."
Now singled out, Nick sneered, trying to keep a little bit of what was left of his dignity. "I can drive, you know."
Immediately, he got an earful from both vixen and doe. "Right into a wall!"
The two looked at each other, giggling at the flustered tod. Nick was regretting coming here.
"But sure, I can fix this. It's not too bad, actually." Skye added, garnering a curious look of hope from Judy. Eyes wide as she mulled over something, she pulled out her phone as well. "You should see the wreck I'm fixing right now."
In seconds, the vixen showed off a few pictures that Judy couldn't believe.
Taking the photo in paw, Judy cringed when she saw the wreckage. Whatever the thing was it wasn't a car anymore.
The engine was in the seat, the seat was in the trunk, the trunk was on a tree, and exhaust fumes covered the entire thing in a haze. There was a piece of a window that was intact, but it was the window of someone's apartment that managed to become dislodged in the crash that uprooted a tree.
"Sweet Cheese!" she sputtered, "Did the driver survive?!"
Getting the phone back, Skye jubilantly nodded. "Yeah! We were gonna meet for ice-cream. We're still figuring out where."
Just as Judy was about to ask how they were, a mellow tone rang out, alerting the three to the door.
A lone lagomorph walked in. Sharply dressed in a suit and vest, striped ears standing on end as he searched around until he saw them. He smiled and waved, earning an energetic wave back from the vixen as they headed towards one another until he noticed one other mammal in the bunch.
He froze.
"Judith?"
She stepped forward.
"Jack?!"
The bunnies eyes met, gaze in complete disbelief. Skye shifted her focus from buck to doe and back again. The room was silent, save for the sound of an engine backfiring from the garage.
Tense, Nick decided it best to address the elephant in the room.
"Ice-cream, huh?" he prattled on, padding a little closer and looking down to his bunny and then the other.
The buck, with the stripes of a tiger and piercing yellow eyes, held his gaze as he stood next to the vixen. Though his ears lay flat, Nick could tell that he was assessing what he was seeing.
Nick smirked. "How about Jumbeaux's?"